Cajun Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa

Cajun spice is one of my favorites because you can use it on just about everything. It's great on fish, shrimp, chicken, beef, veggies and rice and today we are going to use it on pork. Now a true pork tenderloin is not to be confused with the pork loin as it is much smaller and actually is  taken from the rear of the pork loin. Generally they will weigh about 1-1/4 pounds. They usually come packed in 2 per package and cost about 4 dollars a pound. Watch for them to be on sale which of course is the best time to buy them. They will have a little bit of fat that you need to trim off but it's a pretty simple procedure as long as you have a good sharp knife. I guess the first thing we need to do is make the salsa. I like to make this a few hours in advance so the flavors have  time to blend together. Here's what you will need:

Ripe Mango, peel and dice                                 1 each
Ginger, fresh, minced                                         1 Tbs
Garlic cloves, fresh minced                                2 each
Roma tomato, diced                                           2 each
Jalapeno, fresh, seeded and diced small             1 large
Green onions, chopped                                       4 each
Cilantro, fresh chopped                                       1 Tbs
Lime juice                                                            2 limes
Black pepper, fresh ground                                 about 10 turns of pepper mill
Olive oil                                                               2 Tbs

If you've never used a mango before you will find them a little different to clean. In the middle of the mango is a large seed that is pretty much the shape of the mango, turn the mango on its side and cut starting toward the center of the mango and follow the contour of the seed so you get a nice big slice. Repeat on the other side and then trim whats left off also. Now you can take a spoon ad scoop the mango right off the skin. Some will have you take a knife and cut through the mango down to the skin, you can slice or dice and then scoop it out with a spoon. This works well also. Any way once you have everything cut up mix all the ingredients well and put in the fridge and let those flavors grow for a while.

I thought we might have some roasted sweet potato crisps to go with the pork. Take a couple of medium size sweet potatoes and scrub them good with a vegetable brush. Slice them thin, about 1/8 inch, coat them with a little olive oil and lay them out flat on a cookie sheet. Season them with some black pepper, a little garlic powder, and a touch of sea salt. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. These will only take about 20 minutes in that hot oven and if you're not careful they will burn. I turned the pan at 15 minutes and they were close at 22 minutes some of them were burnt. I think you might have to pull some off as they get done. Anyway they are pretty tasty and went well with the pork. You can do the same thing with a regular potato also. They will never stay hot so just plan on serving them at room temperature.

Lets cook pork. We  have one family member that doesn't care for the hot spicy stuff so we will season 1 of the tenderloins generously with Cajun spice and the other we will use some fresh ground black pepper and a little garlic powder. Get that grill hot and away we go. The pork will only take about 20 minutes on the grill. Start with the grill medium hot so you get some nice color. This usually takes about 10 minutes, then turn one side of your grill down low and put the pork on that side. In about 10 more minutes it should be done. The last 5 minutes or so brush a little of your favorite BBQ sauce on the one without Cajun spice. Of course I had some of both and they both go very well with the Mango Salsa. For many years they have told us that pork has to be cooked to death, 165 degrees or higher for it to be safe. This generally leaves it very dry and tasteless. Now they are saying 145 degrees is good but I have always cooked it to about 140 degrees for my personal taste and I'm still alive. It comes out nice and juicy, tender and full of flavor. Use a meat thermometer and when you reach 140 pull that pork off the heat. Let the pork rest a little before you slice it, about 10 minutes. This helps seal in the juices and gives you a little time to get everything on the table. This recipe should easily feed 4 and have some leftovers for the next day. Slice the pork up, put it on a platter, top it with some salsa, time to eat. Enjoy!!!